School's Out! (On Account of MIA 9-Foot Boa)

Around 400 students at a suburban St. Louis school got part of the day off Friday after a 9-foot-long boa constrictor wriggled out of her aquarium, setting off a frantic search. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a teacher alerted officials at Brentwood high and middle schools of the escape around 10am. The 70-pound snake went missing from an enclosure in a biology class. Students were sent home a short time later, reports the AP. "It’s a little hard to defend having hundreds of kids around even though it was docile, but it was over 70 pounds," says the school's principal.

A broken hinge on the enclosure was blamed on the escape. The snake, named Boe, was found beneath the floor, wrapped around pipes. The ceramic floor was ripped up to retrieve her. A biology teacher adopted the snake years ago and kept her at school. When she retired she left the snake for the school to keep.

(More boa constrictor stories.)